Ted Leonsis has another investor in the Monumental Sports & Entertainment portfolio and it’s the gulf state of Qatar.
Indeed, according to reports from Sportico and The Associated Press, the Qatar Investment Authority is buying a roughly five percent stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which is now valued at $4.05 billion.
Per the AP report, this is believed to be the Qatari government’s first foray into U.S. professional sports, and according to Sportico, the first time any sovereign wealth fund has bought into ownership of an American team.
The NBA/WNBA changed rules in 2022 to allow sovereign wealth funds to be able to buy into teams – they had extended that to private equity firms in 2020 – but those funds cannot own more than 20 percent of a team, and it is limited to one team and one fund per country.
“The NBA Board is currently reviewing a potential investment by QIA in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Washington Wizards, among other sports properties. In accordance with the policy, if approved, QIA would have a passive, minority investment in the team, with no involvement in its operations or decision-making,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass was quoted as saying in a statement given to The Athletic.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment is the parent company of the Wizards, Mystics, and G League’s Go-Go, the Capitals, Capital One Arena, and several E-Sports entities, and they now own NBC Sports Washington, which will re-brand into the Monumental Sports Network this fall.
Leonsis is the managing partner and chairman of MS&E, which also lists Nationals owner Mark Lerner among 20 other partners in the entity – and that will now include Qatar, which hosted the FIFA World Cup last year and set record revenue levels with that tournament.
This move could have ramifications with the sale of the Washington Nationals, for which Leonsis is the lone reported bidder.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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